We're proud to say that we only stock products from cruelty-free brands. To ensure this, we only stock brands who sign our cruelty-free declaration form, which means that they agree to each and every one of the following cruelty-free statements:

1.     They do not conduct animal testing on any of their finished products or ingredients at any stage of production, and they have a fixed cut-off date.

2.     They do not use any products or ingredients from any suppliers who test on animals.

3.     They do not commission or permit any other companies or third parties to test on animals on their behalf.

4.     They do not allow products or ingredients to be tested on animals when required by law (for example, they do not sell their products in parts of the world where cosmetic animal testing is required).

5.     They are not owned – neither partly nor fully - by a parent company that does not also adhere to these statements.

6.     They do not pay for animal testing data.

The terms 'cruelty-free' and 'not tested on animals' - as well as the use of independent bunny logos - are unregulated. Therefore, any company can have any of these things on their packaging, website or store-front when in fact they might not actually be entirely cruelty-free. For example, a company might claim to be cruelty-free because they do not test on animals unless required to by law, which means that they're choosing to sell their products in areas of the world where some animal testing is still required by law.

At Lovethical we are extremely passionate about making an ethical and cruelty-free marketplace here in the UK, and our cruelty-free declaration form ensures that we bring you the best cruelty-free brands who are as passionate about anti-animal testing as we are.

Quite simply, we don't want to work with any companies that test on animals in any way because we strongly believe it is both cruel and unnecessary. We therefore only stock products from companies who sign our cruelty-free statements to confirm that they do not test on animals in any of these ways.

Sadly, it is fairly common for brands to claim to be cruelty-free because they tick off some of these cruelty-free statements, when in fact we need them to tick them all off to be considered a part of our online ethical marketplace.

While generally the terms 'cruelty-free' and 'not tested on animals' - alon with independent bunny logos - are unregulated, there are a handful of trusted companies who deliver cruelty-free certifications to brands (Cruelty Free International, PETA and Choose Cruelty Free - who are now a part of Cruelty Free International).

We love it when a company is officially cruelty-free certified because it shows how seriously they take their cruelty-free status and, in some cases, it means that they've been independently audited to ensure they meet the strict accreditation guidelines.

However, we do still ask these companies to sign our cruelty-free statements, for three main reasons:

1) There are some differences between Cruelty Free International's and PETA's accreditation criteria, so we want a set-standard that we can use among all of our brands, whether they're certified or not, and regardless of who they're certified with.

2) The official cruelty-free certifications do not dictate that a company cannot be owned by a parent company that tests on animals. Our founder decided to add that as an extra statement into our cruelty-free declaration form because she's passionate about championing companies who are not owned by (and therefore they aren't sharing profits with) a parent company that tests on animals.

3) We want to send a clear message to you - our customers - that every single company you see on our site has agreed to the aforementioned statements, and that we take animal testing seriously.

If we stock a brand that can no longer be classified as cruelty-free according to our cruelty-free declaration form, then we will simply remove their products from our website as soon as we find out, no ifs or buts. We will also not purchase any more products from that company again, unless they comply with the form again in the future.

To be extra safe, we get our suppliers to review and re-sign the document on an annual basis to help ensure that we don't miss anything.

We know that a cruelty-free brand being owned by a non cruelty-free parent company splits opinion; some people are happy to buy from these brands and want to celebrate them for their anti-animal testing efforts, whereas other people don't want the non cruelty-free parent company to profit from their purchases.

We decided to only work with brand that are not owned by a non cruelty-free company. We applaud all businesses that stand against animal testing, but we really want to shine a light on the ones that say no to it in every area of their company, and that includes any parent companies that profit from their sales.

We love it when a company is officially cruelty-free accredited, and we shine a light on these with our 'certified cruelty-free' logo on our product pages, and you can even filter our products by using our 'certified cruelty-free' value filter. We also know, however, that there are many businesses out there that are truly cruelty-free but without the accreditations. Official certifications can take quite a bit of time to be approved, and some cost money, and so some businesses (especially small businesses) can be cruelty-free but haven't (or haven't yet) gained certification.

We feel that we are very transparent with the fact that not all the companies on this site are cruelty-free certified, but we do ensure that every single one of them signs our thorough cruelty-free form. This form includes terms and conditions regarding the manufacturer's liability should they sign the form incorrectly, so we are confident in its reliability.

Ultimately, our aim at Lovethical is to help our customers make an informed decision when deciding what products to purchase. Therefore, we put the information on the table - that all companies we work with have signed our form and then we highlight the ones that are officially certified - and let our customers chose from there.